Beliefs about depression relate to active and avoidant coping in high-symptom adolescents

Abstract

Background: Perceptions of personal attributes as less malleable are associated with more severe depression symptoms and less active coping in youth. Perceptions of depression itself as relatively fixed have been linked to more severe depression symptoms; however, it is not known how beliefs about depression relate to active and avoidant coping behaviors in particular.

Methods: We gathered information about beliefs about depression and activation and avoidance behaviors among 104 adolescents with high depression symptoms. The primary depression belief examined was prognostic pessimism, or the belief that depression is relatively permanent. We calculated correlations between this belief and activation and avoidance/rumination behaviors.

Results: Prognostic pessimism was negatively correlated with behavioral activation scores (r = -0.31; p = .001), and was positively correlated with behavioral avoidance/rumination scores (r = 0.30; p = .002).

Limitations: This data was cross-sectional, and relied on self-report measures of depression beliefs and behaviors.

Conclusions: Adolescents who believe that depression is relatively permanent might feel less motivated to engage in effortful activation behaviors, instead favoring avoidance. These results may help elucidate the ways in which malleability beliefs relate to mental health outcomes among adolescents, and highlight prognostic pessimism as a potential treatment target for reducing depressogenic behaviors.

Keywords: Adolescent; Behavioral activation; Depression; Prognostic pessimism.